1080pHD video, 8megapixel camera – the iphone4s is not just the best camera I always have with me – its the best camera I own.

The larger aperture and additional improvements such as “auto white balance, advanced color accuracy, and reduced motion blur” according to www.apple.com will greatly improve the ease of photography from the interior of homes. The main problem inside homes with the previous model (iphone4) had been lack of light. Apple claims to have remedied the low light level issues with a combination of software and hardware. Better is moving in the right direction.

The low level light update and improved lens is fantastic news for EasyVT fans. iphone4s will only improve the online content quality.

On a personal note – I grew up in a Hewlett Packard house. In the early 80′s we had huge printers, computers and hardware fresh from research and development – My father very much was a part of the HP Way. We always had a hushed respect for Steve Jobs and the apple brand. Innovation, ease of use and affordability are key in my business as well. While I don’t work for apple, Im a huge advocate of the products, services and culture they currently produce.

iPad 2 is better, is built for the Realtor and it will be here on March 11th.

According to apple the new ipad2 is “thinner, lighter and faster” thanks in part to a dual-core A5 chip and a new 10 hour battery.

For real estate folks – the big winner here is the camera. (In fact it has two cameras.) The camera makes this device an all in one tool for selling and buying real estate. The main camera is HD! no problems showing detail with this lens. Plus Ipad2 has a huge built in flash (read: larger than the iPhone 4 flash, that works for lighting up small baskets of fruit.)

Now realtors can show a listing presentation and use products like the docusign app to go to paperless transaction management, stand up and photograph the listing with the iPad’s HD camera using the EasyVT (easy virtual tour) app to photograph and automatically push the content to your favorite virtual tour company. Then use tools like the zillow app and realtor.com to show off (sell) your listing to buyers.

EasyVT is already built to directly integrate with iPad 2, however, I dont have one yet – I cant wait to get my hands on one.

iPad two is the first all in one tool for Realtors. Tools like the iPad2 apps above will further improve the online listing quality and speed. I’m vastly understating it when I say: This is a big deal.

Easy Virtual Tours Version 1.1 for Real Estate marketing is now live in the app store!
EasyVT is already the best Real Estate Virtual Tour and photography app, yet we’ve worked hard to improve its easy of use. We’ve received great feedback from early adopters that has helped us break the mold and create such an easy to use app.
Realtors can press “+” to add a new property / listing / location and press “+” to photograph or use photos from the iphone photo library.
Up to 9 photos can be selected and automatically sent to your preferred virtual tour provider.
Changes reflect focus on usability in Easy Virtual Tours v1.1:
- Updated ‘add content’ and ‘add location’ buttons to work consistently between screens
- Repaired link to EasyVT.com button
- Settings icon changed to Gear icon and moved to support consistency
- Itunes review button added to Settings screen
- EasyVT.com link added to Settings screen

Yesterday, I drove over to an active real estate listing, a model home that was nicely decorated. I didn’t move any furniture to stage – just casually snapped about 15 photos with my iphone 4 and the HDR setting on. I am in no way a professional photographer, but this app is built for the rest of us.
A few blocks away, I reviewed the iphone property photos at a coffee shop, deleting those photos I didn’t like. This took about 2 min.
With the Real Estate app EasyVT open, I selected my favorite 9 photos and hit send. Before I had finished my coffee, I had an email from EasyVT with a link to my new YouTube virtual tour video.

Easy Virtual Tours is Easy to use, saves time and is Free in the app store.

EasyVT has a few known kinks that are being worked out. Its embarrassing – but these things happen when creating cool new tools. These issues will be resolved in our next version.
Here are some tips to help you work around our blemishes.

-To begin, add a location by pressing the +. To add content to that location press the +. Perhaps the simplicity of a + is in fact too simple? What do you think?

-When photographing a listing, be sure to use the horizontal or landscape position to take photos – vertical photos dont look good with many providers. Also – EasyVT does not like portrait / vertical photos…currently it turns them into landscape – and this can look down right goofy in a youtube video.

-The link to http://EasyVT.com in the app appears to not link correctly each time – that’s inconvenient however has no effect on the apps function. We will fix this.

-Sometimes the email with your youtube link gets deposited in the google spam filter. I really don’t like spam – so we need a way to keep our email out of the spam filter. Until then, check your spam filter / folder for our easyvt email.

Built specifically for Real Estate agents with iphone, the Easy Virtual Tours app is the first ever Real Estate Marketing application. Create a virtual tour and send photos to your virtual tour company from the listing! Its very simple.
Best of all – Its FREE.
Download it in the apple app store Here:

With a few tricks and tips you can vastly improve your iPhone photographs, photos and pictures. In the past year Ive used both the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4 – and its surprising what can be done with these smart phone cameras.
Best iPhone Camera Tip
Unlike standard cameras, the iPhone takes the photo when you release the on-screen shutter button. Set your shot, frame the image, press and hold the camera button and then just release the button when you’re ready to shoot.
This helped me remove shake and movement from dim indoor shots and results in a more clear and crisp photo.
Focus / Light Sensor
The iPhone 3 and above have a built in feature that works like “Focus”. Its actually a light sensor, that will brighten or darken the the portion of the image that you touch. When in the Camera mode – simply touch the screen where you want the focus of the photo – the camera will “adjust the aperture” to compensate the amount of light in the image.
The light sensor works really well when inside. Hot spots like windows will make the rest of the room dark – however touching the dark area will help adjust and improve the image.

HDR iPhone Photo

HDRHigh Dynamic Range imaging Is really cool. Its a feature built in to the 4.0 and higher iPhone OS. This tool is worth the iPhone’s weight in gold.
Simply touch your iphone camera screen and touch the HDR at the top middle of the screen. This turns HDR on.
In HDR mode the camera comes to life.
HDR photographs bring out colors and depth between darkness and light. It will automatically store an HDR image and a non HDR image so you may compare and select.
Compare the 2 photos of my desk. Note the washed out hot spots vs depth of color.

Standard iPhone Photo

Zoom
The iPhone has a built in digital zoom. Its very easy to use.
Touch the screen and a slider bar with a – on the left and a + on the right will appear on the screen. Simply slide the circle on the bar to the right to zoom in.
Be aware that the zoom feature should be used sparingly if at all. The quality of the image reduces exponentially as you zoom in.
A positive – the zoom can be used to properly frame a photo quite nicely.

Flash
The iPhone 4 has a built in LED flash. Its perfect for taking close up photos of babies, still life fruit baskets and the inside of small dim closets – it will not light up a bedroom.
Remember to turn on all the lights in a room prior to photographing.

Lighting

iPhone 4 HDR Basement photo

As mentioned above – flip on all the lights in the home prior to photographing. If possible, photograph large rooms during daylight hours with the windows at your back. Use HDR mode when facing windows.

Stability
In poor lighting conditions stability becomes an issue. Several friends have recommend various tripods and brackets to hold the iPhone. Ive had success using what I have to work with – like chairs, shelf’s, mantles etc. I set the iPhone on a level surface and press the shutter button. (iPhone 4 has flat sides, so you can set it on edge and walk away…if you don’t mind the risk). That said, a tripod would make for better shots – however seems to defeat the purpose of using your pocket sized device.